Purchasing Questions & Instructions
Purchases made that are $5,000 or more and completed before an ePro requisition has been entered or the purchase order is generated, the purchase is considered an "after-the-fact purchase."
Payment Requests: Payment requests submitted to Accounts Payable for the purchase of materials and/or services $5,000 or more not related to a purchase order will be returned to the department for 'after-the-fact purchase' documentation.
***After-the-fact purchase requisitions must state CONFIRMATION ONLY in the description***
After-the-Fact Purchase Requirements:
All "after-the-fact purchases" require a memorandum signed by the applicable Vice President or Dean stating why a purchase order or contract was not obtained prior to work being completed.
The memo must address the 5 statements below and be submitted to Accounts Payable with the Payment Request, invoice, Price Justification Form, contract and/or all other back-up documentation. This must be reviewed and approved by the Director of Purchasing before payment will be made.
After-the-Fact Memo Required Information:
- State the name of individual who ordered the supplies or service or who signed the contractual agreement
- State the signature authority the individual possesses or though they possessed
- State why the selected company is sole source or if any competition was attempted and the results
- State what makes the price fair & reasonable
- State why proper procedures were not followed
SMU currently has contracts for local bus charter services with Echo Transportation and Wynne Sedan & Limousine Group and Wynne Motorcoaches. All itinerary transportation services are amendments to the original agreement between these three firms and Southern Methodist University.
Prior approval for any scheduled trip is generally required within your respective schools or departments by the Financial Officer or Department Head and the Dean of Schools or Associate Vice President.
Purchasing will create a Purchase Order upon receipt of:
- Eprocurement purchase requisition
- Approved Buses by Echo Transportation or Wynne Sedan & Limousine & Wynne Motorcoaches confirmed notice
To obtain preliminary rates from Echo Transportation for your scheduled services, you may contact Valerie Rodriguez, Director of Sales, at 817-572-4114 (Main), 817-253-9139 (Direct), or vrodriguez@echotransportation.com.
To obtain preliminary rates for your scheduled services from Wynne Sedan & Limousine call 972-915-7300, for Wynne Motorcoaches call 972-915-7350, or you may email Michelle Knowles at michelle.knowles@gowynne.com.
If you decide to go with another firm for local bus charter services other than the three mentioned above, your request must be reviewed by SMU Legal Counsel and Risk Management. You may then submit a purchase request to Purchasing for us to issue a purchase order.
Car Rental Discounts
We have agreements with two of our buying consortiums for car rentals. Through the Educational & Institutional Cooperative Service, Inc. we have discounts with Avis, Budget, Enterprise & Hertz. With the Horizon Resource Group buying consortium we have discounts with National and Alamo. The discounts start at 5% and go up for larger cars. If you would like complete information on the plans contact Purchasing and they can provide you the information by e-mail or you can access the buying consortiums directly.
Parking Discounts
Check the Preferred/Exclusive Providers page on the Purchasing website and you will find information on Park 'n Fly and The Parking Spot. Park 'n Fly discounts are available at DFW and The Parking Spot has discounts for Love Field and DFW.
If you use a Preferred or Exclusive Provider or one of the sources from a buying consortium then no competition is required and the price is automatically justified since these contracts and agreements have already been competed and the prices are deemed fair and reasonable.
Purchases up to $10,000
Requirements:
- Attach three bids to the purchase request
- Ask Purchasing to perform the competition
- Select an Exclusive or Preferred Provider
- Select a Buying Consortium
Single Source and Sole Source
If the firm must be sole source, you must document why it must be sole source and additionally why the price is fair & reasonable.
Purchases over $25,000
Purchases greater than $25,000 are expected to be competed through Purchasing. If the paperwork submitted to Purchasing does not demonstrate effective competition and/or the price justification documentation is inadequate, the determination will be made that the competition gathered is not adequate to justify the pricing. Additional vendors from either Preferred Provider listing or the buying consortiums will be included for further competition.
Requirements
Non-project related furniture requirements, even if with a Preferred Provider, must be formally competed by the Purchasing department if the value is greater than $50,000. Contractor Proposal requirements will be detailed in a formal Request for Proposal as well as establishing Evaluation Criteria to select the "best value" firm to meet SMU's requirements. The expectation is that furniture requirements will be competed among several of the Preferred Providers.
Contact Chanda Price (x8-4647) in Purchasing to discuss your furniture needs. Project related furniture requirements are Purchased by Facilities.
Preferred Providers for furniture can be found here.
SMU Household Goods Moving Services Procedures
Household Goods Moving Services Timeline Checklist
PURPOSE
This section outlines the policies and procedures relating to the payment or reimbursement of moving expenses of a newly hired employee or active employee who is moving on behalf of the university. The material in this section pertains to all employees and departments of the University, regardless of the account to be charged.
DEFINITIONS
Active Employee - A person currently on the university payroll who is being transferred to a new job site for the convenience of the university.
New Employee - A person who has been tendered a formal offer of employment by an authorized university official and who has accepted the offer but has not yet been placed on payroll.
Personal Moving Expenses - Expenses incurred by the employee in coming to the Dallas area (i.e. airfare, hotel fees, food, etc.).
Household Goods Moving Expenses - Expenses to be incurred in transporting the employee's personal belongings and physical property to the Dallas area (household furniture, vehicles, etc.).
POLICY
The University provides payment or reimbursement of personal moving expenses to certain employees as approved by the President or Vice President of the University. Employees must provide evidence of all moving expenses in order to document payment or receive reimbursement. Evidence includes original receipts, proof of payment, and invoices.
Reimbursements made under an accountable plan for qualified moving expenses are considered nontaxable and excluded from gross income. To be considered as qualified moving expenses the deduction is only allowed if the employee’s workplace at the University is at least 50 miles farther from his former residence than was his former principal place of work or if he had no former principal place of work and is at least 50 miles from his former residence.
Reimbursement for or payments for qualified moving expenses paid through Accounts Payable directly to a third party are not reported on employee’s W-2 forms.
Reimbursements or payments for non-qualified moving expenses are included in the employees’ gross income.
For additional information on what is a qualified moving expense and what is a non-qualified moving expense, please refer to the Moving Expense Reimbursement Request form as well as the Procedures section below.
PROCEDURES - PERSONAL MOVING EXPENSES
Employees will be reimbursed for personal moving expenses and payments will be mailed to third parties based on the proper supporting documentation and approvals. To request payment or reimbursement, a completed Moving Expense Reimbursement Request form along with supporting documentation should be sent to the Tax Department for approval. Upon approval, the Tax Department will forward all information to Accounts Payable for payment.
Any excess reimbursement that is not returned or reimbursement that is not supported by documentary evidence presented within 120 days after the expenses are paid or incurred will be treated as income and reported on the employees’ W-2 as wages.
Any reimbursement for non-qualified moving expenses will be reported as taxable income as wages. The Tax Department will notify the employee of all reportable income.
Qualified moving expenses (except those paid to a third party) are not taxable but are reported on employees’ W-2 forms.
PROCEDURES - HOUSEHOLD GOODS MOVING EXPENSES
Department Responsibilities
Departments or divisions are responsible for determining the allowable amount for the move and communicating this to the new employee. Divisions may set allowable coverage based on the position.
When SMU will be paying for any or all of the household goods moving expenses for new or transferring employees, departments are required to enter an epro requisition so a Purchase Order (PO) is generated. The PO allows for departmental review and approval, and places the order in accordance with SMU's Terms & Conditions.
The department contact person or supervisor should email the new employee the list of Household Goods Moving companies and Household Goods - MOVING TIMELINE & CHECKLIST
New Employee Responsibilities:
The employee should obtain estimates from 2-3 of the preferred providers for household goods moves. They should email the estimates to their department contact person or supervisor and state which moving company they would like to use. The department contact person or supervisor will email approval of the dollar amount that SMU will cover to the employee.
Use of a non-preferred moving company must be approved in advance of the move being scheduled by Purchasing and Risk Management so the moving company's insurance coverage can be verified to insure it meets SMU minimum requirements. The department is required to obtain the non-preferred moving company's current W9 and Certificate of Insurance (COI).
Household Goods Moving Company contact information is provided on Purchasing's Preferred Provider page.
Staples Advantage is SMU’s EXCLUSIVE VENDOR for office supplies and is the mandatory source for the main Dallas campus, SMU-in-Plano and SMU-in-Taos. Authorized Users (AUs) and Shoppers are required to look for office supply items first with Staples Advantage. Only if Staples Advantage does not carry, cannot get, does not have a comparable item or cannot get item in the required amount of time, then another source may be used. All exceptions must be approved by Purchasing. Office supply purchases made with personal funds without prior purchase approval may not be reimbursed.
Staples Advantage was selected through a competitive RFP process performed by Purchasing. They are SMU's mandatory single source provider for office supplies for the Dallas, SMU-in-Plano & SMU-in-Taos campuses.
Shoppers
Individual Shopper Account Set-Up
Authorized Users
Authorized Users - Placing Orders
Restricted Items
Grants
Office Supply Purchases for Grants
Bottled Water
Dasani Bottled Water Purchasing Options
If the amount of a purchase comes in higher than 10% than the original purchase order amount or the balance remaining is insufficient to cover the full cost of the purchase, the department may request an increase to the purchase order. Please send an email to purchasing@smu.edu (copy Deborah Rozier at drozier@smu.edu). The information in the email should include the following:
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Email Subject: Request to Increase PO XXXXX
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Include original requestor and Financial Business Manager on email.
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Provide funding source (account-fund-org) to use for the increase.
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Provide the increase amount and the requested new total for the PO.
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Provide an explanation for the increase and confirm the vendor.
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Include any documentation that supports the increase (revised quote, updated proposal, contract amendment).
Both the initial requestor and Financial Business Manager will need to reply with their approval. Once approved, Deborah Rozier will make the increase to the PO and use the email as an attachment for documentation.
How to open a SMU Sam's Club membership account
The person who will be purchasing for the deparment must otain a membership from Sam's Club prior to purchases being made. Complete the Sam's Club Membership Form and send the completed form to Deborah Rozier (drozier@smu.edu, fax# 214-768-4860, or box #416) to initiate the membership process.
How to use Purchasing's Sam's Club credit card
If the department would like to use Purchasing's Sam's Club credit card, please contact Deborah Rozier (drozier@smu.edu, fax# 214-768-4860, or box #416) to confirm that the card is available. Whomever the department sends to pick up the card will need to sign the card in and out when they pick up and drop off the card from Deborah in the Purchasing Suite 205A of Expressway Tower. The department will also need to submit a purchase requisition for the charges so that the appropriate accounts can be charged.
First try to work out the issue with the shipping company; second check the Purchasing website to see if the firm is a Preferred Provider and find the SMU representative listed; finally, report your problem to the Director of Purchasing for assistance.
How to request a new SMU Card
To request a new SMU Card, complete the SMU Card Application and send it to purchasing@smu.edu or brianc@smu.edu.
For additional information, requirements, and procedures related to receiving and using an SMU Card, visit the SMU Card page on the SMU Purchasing website.
How to request a limit increase
If you feel that your daily & monthly limits on your procurement card are too low, you may request a change with appropriate written justification from your financial officer to the SMU Purchasing Card Administrator - Harmony Mei.